Australia 2003-4

Continued from Page 1

From Uluru we headed south to the Opal mining town of Coober Pedy. Besides the opals, its claim to fame is the underground living accommodations. Veterans of WW1 who arrived to seek their fortune in the hot desert built the first underground homes. Used to digging foxholes in Europe, they burrowed underground to keep cool. The town is not an attractive oasis in the desert, it looks like a small dusty village. With extremely limited water supplies, people do not plant gardens and with motels, stores and even churches underground and about 40% of the population living in homes dug out of the sandstone, very little of the town is visible. According to one of the Opal storeowners we chatted with, it is a great place to raise your family. Everyone knows you and you never have to worry where your kids are.

Dog Fence Sign

Coober Pedy Beakaway Mountains

We took a guided tour to see some of the cave dwellings as well as the surrounding desert. Just outside town is the famous Dog Fence, built to separate the infamous dingoes from the sheep. It stretches a 5400 Km long from the southern coast of South Australia to Queensland in the east. We also stopped to admire the Breakaways, 35 m high desert hills carved when the inland sea receded eons ago. We visited one of the many opal mine sites littering the landscape. No big corporations have staked claims in the area, it isn't worth their while. Individual miners or partnerships sink exploratory holes into the sandstone and spew out hills of sand hoping for the big break. The holes are never backfilled so walking in the area unguided is extremely dangerous. We got to try our luck 'noodling' in a safe area. That means you sift through the leftover debris by hand looking for the shine of opal chips. A few tiny opal chips were found by the group but not by us.

Crocodile Harry's home

We were also taken to visit Crocodile Harry at his mine cum home. He is one of the colourful locals who arrived over 25 years ago to dig for opals. We wandered through the many caverns of his defunct mine and visited his cave home, covered with graffiti and memorabilia contributed by previous visitors. Harry is now in his late 70s, drinking his last years away, but he is understood and tolerated by the locals for his eccentricities.

Coober Pedy also has a golf course. Since it is in the midst of a desert there is no grass. The tees are artificial turf and you get a piece of articificial to carry around with you from hole to hole. The clubhouse is being rebuilt after a disgruntled miner blew up the old one. This event was taken very philosophically by Coober Pedians, just another example of local eccentricities.

A desert golf course needs a green

Grave with Beer Keg tombstone for German miner

Our last stop of the day was to Boot Hill, where our driver, an ex-miner himself, showed us the gravesite of a German born miner. He received the news he had terminal cancer with the determination that everyone at his wake would have a party. He arranged for a large beer keg to be available for all in attendance and when the keg was empty, he had it welded to the grave as his tombstone.

We had a graphic illustration of the convenience of a pet Bearded Dragon when we were packing up our tent ready to leave Coober Pedy. A large millipede skittered from underneath the tent as we were rolling it up. It had only 3 seconds to try to scuttle away before it became lunch for a large Bearded Dragon that suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. Our next door tent neighbour said that a family of these lizards live at the campsite getting fat on leftovers, bugs and other goodies.

As you probably realize, we like to hike whenever we can. We had read about the Flinders Ranges, reputedly one of the most scenic wilderness areas in Oz. It was only a few hours south of Coober Pedy, so that was our next destination. It lived up to its reputation. We had a great half day walk to Mt Ohlssen Bagge, for a great view of the Wilpena Pound, a large valley surrounded by 1000 m peaks. I was leading the way on our return trip down the hill when I saw a snake head peeking out from a crevice right next to the rock where I was about to put my foot. I stopped, the snake and I exchanged glances, and I stepped back a few paces to give the snake a chance to escape. It wasn't very large, but the Brown snakes in the area are venomous. I watched my step closely after that.

Flinders St Mary Peak

Our campsite was right in the middle of kangaroo country and each evening we were visited by several almost tame Roos, coming to munch on the grassy vegetation. The next day we had our longest walk yet to the top of St Mary Peak, one of the highest peaks surrounding the Pound. It took us 6 hours, round trip, to scramble up rocky paths to reach the top, but the view was worth the effort.

There are lots of other hiking trails in the area, but many are only accessible by 4WD. On our way south again, we decided to drive to a few of the lookouts nearby to have a better view of the area. As we rumbled over the dirt road leading to the lookout, we spied a large snake crossing the road. A Park Service Jeep was approaching us at the same time. We both stopped and turned around to get a better view. I asked the Park Warden what kind of snake it was. He said it was a King Brown, the second most deadly snake in Oz and quite aggressive. He just wanted to make sure it got across the road safely. We watched the snake slither into the bush from the safety of our car. We carried on and enjoyed the views of the Flinders Ranges, then started off again. We didn't get far before we had to stop again to admire the wildlife. This time it was a pair of emus by the side of the road, nothing dangerous.

Mt Remarkable

Rosemount vineyard

There is another National Park nearby, Mt Remarkable and it sounded like a good place to take another walk and was our route south. The three hour hike around Alligator Gorge was pretty but not to be compared to the Flinders walks.

From Mt Remarkable we drove through field after field of wheat in the process of being harvested. This must be the breadbasket of Oz. As the hills got larger, the wheat fields changed to the vineyards of the Clare Valley. This area is known for its Rieslings, so of course we had to get a bottle to enjoy with our supper at our next campsite. The next day we continued south through the Barossa wine district. We stopped at three of the many wineries to sample and buy a few bottles. Some of the largest wineries are in this area, including Rosemount, Jacob's Creek and Penfolds.

Adelaide Trolley

At last we reached Adelaide, a pleasant town with a small downtown area devoid of skyscrapers. Parks surround the downtown core and beaches are nearby. All in all a good place to linger. We are staying in a nice hostel in the center of town, Backpackers Oz, where we were treated to a free BBQ last evening and participated in a Pool tournament. We were both promptly eliminated, but it was fun. I am writing this episode on the free computers provided in the State Library. I can book up to three hours a day, so this is being completed over two days. We spent yesterday afternoon wandering through the South Australia Museum, just next to the library. They have an excellent exhibit of Aboriginal Culture that was both informative and entertaining.

We leave tomorrow for Goolwa, on the Fleurieu Penninsula just south of Adelaide. We have a condo there for one week, so we will just veg out and make day trips to sites of interest in the area, including a winery or two.

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